2022 Fastrack Last Chance Invitational Results
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – A new program record by
Natalia Novak in the mile,
Ombretta Picciolie Minkue Meye tying for second in the country with the second-fastest 400m time in Academy of Art track & field history,
Selena Arjona-Alcazar rising to third in the 200m, and the tandem of
Duncan Agyemang and
Shareez Hamm both entering the nation's top 10 in the 400m were just some of the many highlights for the Urban Knights at Friday's Fastrack Last Chance Invitational inside the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex.
"Extremely proud of the way the team competed today," said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
Kevin LaSure. "We had several student-athletes step up and improve their positions nationally in hopes of getting into the NCAA Championships in two weeks. Today was a good all-around day."
In just her third opportunity to compete in the mile this season, Novak continued to significantly drop her time, achieving a new ART U record at 4:45.71. The mark bested her previous record by nearly three seconds and rose her to seventh in NCAA Division II. Teammate
Delanie Dykes bettered her own season-best from two weeks ago by going 4:58.00 to take over the fourth spot in program history as an Indoor Nationals provisional qualifier as well.
Minkue Meye shined in multiple events Friday, running her best races of the season in the 60m dash and 400m. After matching her top time in 2022 with a 7.57 in the prelims of the 60m, she dropped a 54.63 in the 400m to nearly break Keanna Moody's 54.48 program record set in 2016. Still inside the country's top 20 in the 60m, Minkue Meye tied Azusa Pacific's Jaylah Walker for second in NCAA Division II in the 400m.
Additionally,
Darria Matthias qualified through the 60m prelims and won the final with a season-best time of 7.61, putting her now 25th in the nation. In the 400m,
Alice Coisne ran her fastest 400m to date at 56.96 to finish fourth of 23 just outside provisional qualification.
Few have been faster than Arjona-Alcazar in the 200m this season as she impressively continued to cut down her time on Friday. Blistering across the finish line at 24.12, she tied for third in the country with Minnesota State Mankato's Denisha Cartwright and also made her way up to third in Academy of Art history behind only multi-time Hall of Famer Vashti Thomas and teammate Minkue Meye with the personal record.
Both nearly a full second ahead of the next closest competitor in the 400m, Agyemang and Hamm went first and second on the day with the best times of their respective careers. Agyemang led at 47.62 (fourth in ART U history) and Hamm was just a fraction behind at 47.68 (fifth in ART U history) as the pair assumed the eighth and 10th places respectively in NCAA Division II.
Adding to a strong day of results from members of the 2021 Pacific West Conference Women's Cross Country Championship team,
Lina Hanich turned in her best 800m of the year by taking more than a half a second off her previous best. She was second of 38 on the day, remained third in Academy of Art history, and cracked the 30 of Indoor Nationals provisional qualifiers.
After qualifying through to the final of the 60m hurdles, Marie-Jeann Ourega put up a significant personal record of 8.67 to tie Pitt State's Audreanae Hagan for 16th in the nation.
Continuing his progression,
Ajani Ince ran sub-7.00 times in the 60m dash not once but twice on Friday. He began by going 6.99 in the prelims to claim one of the final qualifications then exploded to a 6.90, nearly reaching the 6.88 representing Alexander McNally's spot on the program's top five all-time list.
One more opportunity to qualify for Indoor Nationals will come for the Urban Knights this Sunday, Feb. 27 at the BU Last Chance Meet in Boston, the final meet of the regular season.
"We still have some things to work on going into Sunday's meet in Boston," LaSure said. "So hopefully we can continue to improve."
